The fireman of the future won't be a burly man holding a big hose, if Harvard scientists succeed with their research in this field. Instead, it'll be a burly man with an electrified stick.

Their work has focused on the 200 year old idea that sending pulses of electrically-charged air at the fire can actually snuff it out. With any luck, it would be make fighting fires more affordable, and also make firefighters less reliant on water as a means to an end. Plus, it'd mean there's a greater chance of saving what's inside the house—and the foundations itself—from the damage water often creates. [Eureka via Popsci]